


The Universe Is Infinite

by cold_nights_summer_days



Series: Stardust [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Afghanistan, ENJOY IT, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Man 1, Kid Peter Parker, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Sort Of, Tony Stark Has A Heart, go listen to it if you havent its good, inspired by the song Good Grief by Bastille, no beta we die like men, no canon in this house, no sir, not sleeping, space, this was fourty minutes of sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 11:36:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20357836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_nights_summer_days/pseuds/cold_nights_summer_days
Summary: Peter Parker's dad has been missing in Afghanistan for three weeks. It's hard to fall asleep when the comfort you need is thousands of miles away, luckily though, Peter manages.------------------Or: Peter steals his dad's sweatshirt and I'm a slut for it.





	The Universe Is Infinite

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guy! If some of you are joining me from The Shield Literary Society, or anything else of mine, welcome back! I didn't expect to post something so soon (like three hours after XD) but here we are. This idea has been floating around my head and I just needed to write the scene, and I thought maybe you guys would enjoy it. Much love to you guys!

Peter’s dad had been missing for three weeks.

_“It’s only for a few days, piccolo. I’ll be back before you know it.” Tony promised, about to board the plane to Afghanistan. Rhodey waited at the top of the stairs, heart breaking for the six year old._

_“Why can’t I come with you?” Peter’s lower lip trembled and his eyes watered. Pepper tried to offer her support by placing a placating hand on his shoulder, but Peter shrugged it off._

_“Because it’s not a good place and I don’t want you to get hurt.”_

_“What if you get hurt? I don’t want you to get hurt either.”_

_“I won’t.”_

_“Pinky promise?” Peter asked, holding up his hand. Tony managed a pained smile as he did the same, praying to every god he didn’t believe in that Peter wouldn’t worry about him. He knew it was pointless, though. Peter was too smart for his own good._

Peter knew something was wrong when Uncle Rhodey called Aunt Pepper because she had to leave the room almost immediately, face twisted in an expression he recognized as fear. She didn’t come back until nearly fifteen minutes later, and when she did, her eyes were red rimmed and tired. Aunt Pepper told him that his dad’s trip had been extended and he wouldn’t be home for a while but wouldn’t give him a reason why. The next night, while she was doing paperwork in the other room, he turned on the news and saw the headline **Billionaire Tony Stark Missing In Afghanistan—Terrorist Group Releases Ransom Video.** Peter ran up to his bedroom immediately and sobbed into his pillow. 

Now Peter lay awake in bed, tossing and turning in the soft sheets. He was too worried about his dad still being missing to sleep. Besides, sleeping meant nightmares would rear their ugly heads and he would wake up anyway. The way Peter looked at it, he was being efficient by cutting out the sleep altogether. If he was awake for much longer, Jarvis would tell Aunt Pepper and she would come in and tell him to go to sleep.

The alarm clock on Peter’s nightstand read** 23:07**. The digital red letters seemed to mock him for being awake, laughing at the reason he couldn’t sleep. Sometimes when he couldn’t sleep, his dad would let him stay in his room instead. At some point he’d heard Aunt Pepper say that he shouldn’t do that because it would create codependency and attachment issues down the road, but he did it anyway. _“I’m not going to make him suffer alone in the dark after a terrible nightmare, Pepper.” _

Peter wanted nothing more than to do that now, to feel the feeling of safety that came with it. Struggling to untangle himself from his blankets, Peter tiptoed down the hallway to his dad’s room. Pepper could be heard down the hallway talking to someone on the phone, most likely to Rhodey for updates on Tony. A lot of her calls were to him now, Peter noticed. He wondered if that meant they were making progress on finding his dad.

He hoped so.

When Peter got to the bedroom door he didn’t bother knocking, already knowing that there was no answer to be heard. It was weird walking into the empty bedroom, bed still unmade and things laying about like their owner expected to be back almost immediately. Before laying down, he grabbed a sweatshirt from the closet. It wasn’t quite the same as having his dad there, but it was better than nothing at all. Peter had a bit of trouble climbing into the bed by himself, but he quickly found his familiar spot on the left, facing the windows. He liked seeing the night sky outside because be found it calming. Space was a weird concept to a six-year-old, the thought that the universe was infinite and ever-changing. It didn’t make much sense to Peter, and he told his dad as much when he tried to explain it to him.

_“The universe is infinite, Peter. There are stars and planets and even these things called blackholes that destroy things.”_

_“A blackhole won’t destroy us, will it?” Peter asked, eyes wide with concern. Tony laughed and ruffled his kid’s adorable curls._

_“No, we’re safe. I love you, you know that right?”_

_“Of course! I love you too, dad.”_

Peter slowly drifted off, seeing stars and planets behind his eyes.

“I love you, dad,” Peter whispered, “I really hope you come back soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos/comments if you enjoyed! Thank you for taking your time to read my story, it really means a lot to me!
> 
> Instagram: @its.the.end.of.the.line or @cold.nights.summer.days
> 
> [Tumblr!](https://funky--lil--spider.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Until next time, ciao ciao!


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